Public - The Museum of English Rural Life

All Roads: Migration Stories

A woman holds up a fabric that says 'hej'

Where have you travelled from to get here? This Community Case display, delivered by Jelly, explores the routes women have taken to arrive in Reading and celebrates the textiles that travelled with them.

Charles Hasler: A Mid-Century Designer and Collector

Charles Hasler (1908 - 1992) was an internationally important typography and graphic designer, whose work included the 'Dig for Victory' and 'Make Do and Mend' campaigns of the Second World War. This exhibition uses materials from the University of Reading Special Collections to celebrate Hasler's career and the wonderful collection he amassed in his life [...]

Forty Farms

Sheep moving through a Lake District landscape

Our 2025 exhibition reveals the highs and lows of farming lives in some of England’s most beautiful landscapes.

Together Stronger

A collaborative artwork by young people whose parents live with early-onset dementia.

Annual Symposium with the Friends of the Landscape Archive Reading (FOLAR)

The symposium is devoted to an examination and discussion of the public health benefits of gardens and the wider landscape, from the gardens and farms of nineteenth century “lunatic asylums”, to municipal provision of healthcare in interwar Bermondsey which ranged from tuberculosis gardens, to street beautification to playgrounds and parks, to the landscape of NHS […]

Monthly Gallery Tours – January

Curator of MERL Collections, Dr Ollie Douglas, will be joined by a different specialist for each of these monthly tours. Together they will take visitors on a short conversational guided trip through the galleries approaching our collection from a different perspective that reflects the guest speaker’s expertise, ensuring you’ll learn something new every time. Each […]

Closer Look: Conversations with a Conservator

Drawing of a seated male nude and two arms by Jacopo Bertoia

Join museum and gallery experts, including curators, conservators, and scholars, for a free, online deep dive into a selection of objects in the University of Reading’s Art Collection. In each talk, we will take a closer look at a specific work of art and hear new insights and untold stories from our specialist speakers. You’ll […]

Our Green Stories Gallery Tours – October

Curator of MERL Collections, Dr Ollie Douglas, will be joined by a different specialist for each of these tours. Together they will take visitors on a short conversational trip through the galleries, exploring our collections, and sharing Green Stories about environment, climate action, social justice, and the life and future of the planet. Each tour will […]

Labour of Love

Over one third of England’s moorland is ‘common land’ – managed and cared for by many farmers and organisations and accessed by millions. These upland commons are crucial for England’s rural cultures and natural ecosystems, yet are often poorly understood. What does it take to care well for them? How might farming and nature recovery [...]

Do Not Feed the Animals?

People all over the world feed animals every day, whether caring for pets or livestock, for conservation, for fun, or by accident. But what happens when so many people feed so many animals for so long? What happens to the people, to the animals, and the environment? Do Not Feed the Animals? explores questions of [...]